The Harp of God eBook

[443]Suppose we admit, for the sake of the argument,
that no man knows the day nor hour of the Lord’s
appearing. What difference does that make?
The hour and the day have already passed. He is
here! And let all truly consecrated Christians
rejoice. “But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you,”
says St. Paul. (1 Thessalonians 5:1) The times and
seasons are clearly established by the overwhelming
proof that the Lord is now present. Therefore,
“ye, brethren, are not in darkness, ... ye are
all the children of light, and the children of the
day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness”.
Why quibble now about dates, days or hours? The
physical facts, the fulfilled prophecy and prophecy
further in course of fulfillment, prove overwhelmingly
and beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Lord is
present, that the world has ended, that the kingdom
of heaven is at hand! And the true watchers are
joyfully exclaiming: “Behold the Bridegroom!”
As faithful members of his body, as the feet of him,
they are standing upon the mountains, that is, upon
or above the kingdoms of earth, singing out to the
peoples of Zion: ’Thy God reigneth!
The kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ The Prophet
of the Lord describes them thus: “How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth
good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen
shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall
they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when
the Lord shall bring again Zion.”—­Isaiah
52:7,8.

[444]These are they who, having the harps of God,
are singing the song of Moses the servant of God and
the song of the Lamb, harmonizing the great truths
of the Old and New Testaments, the Mosaic law and the
gospel of Christ Jesus, singing: “Great
and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?
for thou only art holy: for all nations shall
come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are
made manifest.”—­Revelation 15:2-4.

WHY THE LORD COMES

[445]There are three primary purposes or reasons why
the Lord appears the second time. These are:
(1) To bind Satan and destroy his kingdom and all
the false systems inaugurated by his agencies; (2)
to receive unto himself his bride, the church, which
includes the work of the harvest of gathering them
unto him; and (3) to set up his kingdom, for which
he taught his followers to pray.

[446]The purpose of our Lord’s second coming
has been much misunderstood and misrepresented.
Some have said that he is coming to burn up the earth.
The Scriptures answer this charge: “The
heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but
the earth hath he given to the children of men”.
(Psalm 115:16) How then can we harmonize this statement
of the Scriptures with St. Peter’s words?—­“But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also and the works that are therein shall
be burned up.... The heavens being on fire shall
be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat.”—­2 Peter 3:10,12.